Book of Days Tales

Today is le quatorze juillet in France, a.k.a. Bastille Day, commemorating the storming of the Bastille on this date in 1789 which set in motion the French Revolution and all that it entailed – Robespierre, guillotines, Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and all the rest.  The idle and ignorant queen did not refer to “cake” in her supposed riposte to the peasantry having no bread, but, rather, “qu’ils mangent la brioche” – which she did not say either.  All pure folklore.  Nonetheless, you could make brioche for the recipe today – assuming you have the skill. As for me, I’m going to make classic French onion soup – a peasant dish that became noble.  Seems suitable.  This is basically Escoffier’s recipe which I will walk you through in an old fashioned way. If all of this seems too much for you to handle then head to a French restaurant for coq au vin.

Begin by peeling and thinly slicing 2 lbs of yellow onions. Set a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot on low heat and add 1 ½ ounces of clarified butter.  Add the sliced onions.  This is the critical phase of the whole recipe.  Your job is to caramelize the onions to an even golden-brown and there are no shortcuts. If you do it right it will take around 40 to 45 minutes.  Just keep watching and stirring the pot from time to time. When the onions are thoroughly and evenly browned, add a small quantity of good rich beef or veal stock to the pan, turn up the heat to medium, and scrape all of the brown bits off into the stock, and combine well.  Then add a total of 3 pints of stock.  Escoffier recommends half and half beef or veal and chicken, but all beef is fine. Bring to a simmer and season to taste with fresh thyme leaves.  Simmer for about 20 minutes and keep tasting to adjust the seasonings. Place the finished soup in ovenproof bowls.  Top each with a slice of toasted bread and a thick layer of grated Gruyere. Place under a broiler until the cheese is melted and lightly browned, and serve.

Serves 4